Fibre • Contracts & fine print

Fibre terms and conditions: the six clauses that decide what you actually bought

The price card sells the speed. The contract sells the FUP, the clawbacks, the exit penalties and the support you get when the line dies. Here is how to read a South African fibre agreement in twenty minutes, and the CPA rights that do (and do not) protect a business.

Last verified 4 July 2026
By the WhichVoIP editorial team
9 min read

6 clausescarry almost all of the contract’s real-world weight

CPA s14protects natural persons on fixed terms, not companies

“Free” installis usually a loan that early cancellation repays

4 documentsT&Cs, FUP, AUP and SLA together are the product

The short answer

What should I check in a fibre contract before signing?

Six things: the fair usage policy behind “uncapped”, what “free installation” claws back if you leave, the contract term and exit penalty, the SLA (or absence of one), how prices escalate, and what use the acceptable use policy actually permits. If you sign as a company, note that the CPA’s fixed-term escape hatches do not apply to you.

maximum fixed term the CPA allows for consumer agreements

business days’ notice consumers can give to exit a fixed term early (CPA s14)

documents that together define the product: T&Cs, FUP, AUP, SLA

clauses that decide nearly everything that will annoy you later

Close-Up Of A Person Reviewing A Printed Internet Service Contract With A Pen — Four documents define a fibre service: the terms, the fair usage policy, the acceptable use policy and the SLA. The advert quotes none of them.

The six clauses that matter

Fibre contracts are long, but their real-world weight concentrates in six places.

1. The fair usage policy behind “uncapped”

Uncapped is a volume promise, not a speed guarantee. The FUP defines the threshold after which your line can be throttled or de-prioritised, how usage is measured, and whether off-peak hours count. We cover the mechanics, and the rolling-window trap, in our dedicated fibre fair usage policy guide; for contract review purposes, confirm a published threshold exists and note it.

2. What “free installation” actually costs

Waived installation is usually a conditional loan: leave before the contract ends and the waived amount, sometimes plus hardware, becomes payable. Trenching from the street to your building is often excluded from “standard installation” and billed separately. Confirm who owns the ONT and router when you leave, too; “free” hardware is often rental in the fine print. The full cost anatomy is in our fibre installation cost guide.

3. Term and exit

Month-to-month costs more per month and less to leave; 12-to-24-month terms invert that. The clause to read twice is the early-termination formula: recovered discounts, pro-rata remaining months, or both, plus the notice period (commonly around 30 days, in writing, sometimes only effective from the next billing cycle).

4. The SLA, or the silence where one should be

Consumer fibre products are best-effort: no committed uptime, no fix time, consumer support queues. Business fibre products carry a service level agreement with defined response and repair targets, and often service credits when they are missed. If the contract you are reading has no SLA section at all, you are reading a consumer contract, whatever the sales page called it.

5. Price escalation and change notices

Look for the clause allowing the provider to change pricing or terms on notice, and how much notice. Annual increases are normal; what you are checking is whether changes require notice to you and whether a material change gives you a penalty-free exit.

6. The acceptable use policy

The AUP defines permitted use. On consumer uncapped products it commonly prohibits running servers, reselling, and business use altogether, which matters if you are eyeing a home-priced plan for an office. It is also where suspension rights live: non-payment and AUP breaches typically allow suspension with the monthly fee still accruing.

The advert is marketing. The contract is the product. Read the product.

WhichVoIP editorial view

What the Consumer Protection Act does (and does not) do for you

The CPA’s famous fixed-term protections have a sharp boundary that catches businesses: they protect people, not companies.

For natural persons, including sole proprietors trading in their own name, section 14 of the CPA caps fixed-term agreements at 24 months, lets you cancel early on 20 business days’ written notice against a reasonable cancellation penalty, and requires the provider to notify you before the term expires, after which the agreement continues month-to-month unless you renew.

For juristic persons, section 14 does not apply at all. A Pty Ltd or CC signing a 24-month fibre agreement is bound by the contract’s own exit terms, whatever they say. This is separate from the CPA’s general R2 million threshold: even a small company under that threshold, which enjoys other CPA protections, is excluded from the fixed-term rules specifically.

The practical consequence: if you sign as a company, the early-termination clause is not softened by statute. Negotiate it before signing, because you will be holding exactly what you signed.

Clause by clause: good answer vs red flag

Use this as your margin checklist while reading.

Clause	Good answer	Red flag
Uncapped / FUP	Published threshold, off-peak excluded	No threshold published; “at our discretion”
Installation	Itemised costs; clawback amount stated	“Free” with unquantified recovery on exit
Hardware	Ownership stated; return terms clear	Rental disguised as free; penalty pricing on return
Early exit	Formula you can compute today	“Remaining months payable in full”
Support	SLA with response and repair targets	No SLA section; “best effort” for a business line
Changes	Written notice + exit right on material change	Unilateral changes effective immediately

The 20-minute contract review

You do not need a lawyer for a fibre contract. You need a method.

Collect all four documentsTerms and conditions, FUP, AUP and SLA. If any is “available on request”, request it before signing, not after.

Search, don’t readSearch the PDFs for: “fair usage”, “cancel”, “terminat”, “penalt”, “escalat”, “suspen”, “ownership”. These land you on the six clauses directly.

Compute your worst-case exit todayWrite down what leaving in month 6 would cost, using the contract’s own formula. If you cannot compute it, ask the provider to, in writing.

Match the product to the useBusiness use on a consumer AUP is a breach waiting to be enforced. If the office depends on it, buy the business product with the SLA.

Keep the signed versionsSave the exact documents you signed, with dates. Providers update templates; disputes are settled against your version.

Business Owner Comparing Fibre Provider Documents Side By Side On A Desk — Search the contract PDFs for “cancel”, “penalt” and “fair usage” and you will find the six load-bearing clauses in minutes.

Our verdict

Fibre contracts are not traps, but they are asymmetrical: the provider wrote them, and every ambiguous clause resolves in the direction of whoever wrote it. Twenty minutes with the four documents converts you from hoping to knowing, and the questions that matter, the FUP threshold, the exit formula, the SLA, are all answerable before you sign. Companies should read hardest of all, because the CPA’s fixed-term protections stop at natural persons.

Our recommendation: shortlist on price and coverage, but decide on the documents. When two offers look similar, the one with a published FUP threshold, a computable exit and an actual SLA is the better product, whatever the price cards say.

Comparing business fibre contracts?

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Frequently asked questions

Can I cancel a fibre contract early in South Africa?

If you signed as a natural person, the CPA lets you cancel a fixed-term agreement on 20 business days’ written notice, subject to a reasonable cancellation penalty. If you signed as a company or CC, section 14 does not apply and the contract’s own early-termination clause governs.

Does the Consumer Protection Act apply to my business’s fibre contract?

Partially at best. Juristic persons with assets or turnover of R2 million or more fall outside the CPA entirely, and the fixed-term protections in section 14 exclude juristic persons of any size. Small companies keep some general CPA protections, but not the fixed-term escape hatches.

What does free fibre installation actually mean?

Usually that the installation fee is waived conditionally on you completing the contract term. Cancel early and the waived amount typically becomes payable, sometimes with hardware costs. Non-standard work such as trenching is often excluded and billed separately.

What is the difference between a consumer and business fibre contract?

The SLA. Business products carry committed response and repair targets, often with service credits, plus an AUP that permits business use. Consumer products are best-effort with consumer support queues, and their AUPs commonly prohibit business use outright.

What documents should I read before signing up for fibre?

Four: the terms and conditions, the fair usage policy, the acceptable use policy and the service level agreement. Together they define the threshold behind “uncapped”, what you may use the line for, what exit costs, and what support you are owed.

What notice period do fibre providers require for cancellation?

Commonly around 30 days in writing, and often effective only from the start of the next billing cycle, which can add most of a month. Check whether notice given mid-month counts from the date given or the next cycle.

Keep reading

Fibre fair usage policies: what uncapped really means
Fibre installation costs, itemised
Business fibre vs home fibre
Fibre internet myths debunked

Sources: Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (s14; juristic-person threshold GN, Gazette 34181), ISP fair usage and acceptable use policy documents. Verified 4 July 2026.